The following is another lesson I garnered from Fr. Malcolm Willoughby , a wonderful priest and friend. It's about our very nature. Quite often when someone dies we hear things like, 'Heaven needed another angel'. Yet the truth is that we don't become angels. Angels are beings entirely different from humans. They were created in their end form: they were angels right from the start. We were born human, which means we have to develop and grow. We, in the end, become something beyond what we are now, if we cooperate with God's will. To be sure, we don't correct a grieving friend who makes such a remark during a time of loss. But we don't get wings. We are created in the Image of God, and have our own special place in creation. We don't get transformed into something which we're not. We become friends and brothers and sisters of Christ. We become Saints.
On the Internet yesterday I came across a picture from the 1950s of west Dearborn, Michigan. In the background of the photo was the old Calvin theater. That was a fun place to watch movies. But it was more for the patrons than the matinee. I suspect that many Calvin theatergoers were regulars, but anyone could get into the act. Samples of what played out at the old movie house are abundant in my memory. Once an usher came into the main body of the theater and announced (remember this was well before cell phones) "Phone call for Michael Brady! Phone call for Michael Brady!" About one third of the audience rose and started towards the lobby. That poor usher. Another time he called out, "Phone call for Cloyce! Phone call for Cloyce!" From all over the place came many voices. "Cloyce! Phone!" "Better get the phone Cloyce!" "Yo! Cloyce! Phone!" "Cloyce! Yer interruptin' the movie!" In exasperation the usher finally responded, ...
I'll admit up front that it's a bit odd, but one thing I'll say for listening to baseball on the radio is that there's an added dimension of the game when you can't actually see what happened. Two dimensions, really. I was listening to yesterday's Detroit Tigers game (Bally Sports and Xfinity don't appear to care whether I can watch live baseball) and, at one point, Tiger outfielder Riley Greene made a spectacular catch to save, the announcers felt, two runs. It was euphoric to hear. Dan Dickerson, the play by play man (who has a great announcer's voice by the way) described the action. He sounded excited and concerned all at once as the ball fell to earth, telling his audience about Greene's rush towards it, and exploding himself in happiness when the catch was made. I about jumped from my seat too. This leads to the first point: having the play told to you adds more excitement than seeing it. Secondly, I actually felt greater relief at hearing abo...
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